Business Daily

Hard-up motorists 'don't know' how much fuel costs

HARD-up English motorists are desperate to save money on fuel but do not even know how much it costs, a survey has found.

Research for the Energy Saving Trust’s Fuel Your Passion campaign found almost three-quarters (71 per cent) of drivers do not know the average price of a litre of unleaded but nine in 10 admit shopping around to find cheaper fuel.

Eighty per cent of car owners say they know following simple smarter driving tips could save them money but a stubborn 51 per cent refuse to follow those tips because they are too set in their ways.

The three-month Fuel Your Passion campaign aims to inspire drivers to save money behind the wheel by driving more efficiently.

An online app produced by the Energy Saving Trust for the campaign shows drivers how much they could save by following a series of simple tips and is available on its website, energysavingtrust.org.uk/Travel/Fuel-your-passion.

Energy Saving Trust’s Tim Anderson said: “Drivers are so keen to save money on fuel that they’re happy to spend time trying to find the cheapest petrol station but don’t want to follow simple tips which could save them around £270 a year.

“It’s not hard to see why many people don’t know the actual price of unleaded, with prices rising so quickly.”

The Fuel Your Passion campaign was launched last month with new findings, which showed inefficient driving costs English motorists almost £7 billion in wasted fuel every year.

The research found drivers could save an average of £270 each - or 20p of every litre spent on petrol and diesel - by simply following a range of simple smarter driving tips.